Announcement

Just a small announcement.
I haven't written anything on chapter 23 yet, because I'm busy studying to take my driver's license, and so that's my priority right now.
I promise to start writing again when I've got the pink little card in my hand! (Yes, they're pink in Sweden, cool, eh?)
I hope you understand, because this is kind of important right now, haha.
Anyway, off to read that god damned book again! 

Twenty-Two

   “Can you grab my pillow?” Nathalie asked Nicky from the living room. They were packing the final things to bring back to Sweden for the summer.

The Capitals had been eliminated in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Nicky hadn't been too happy about it for some days. He was finally starting to get over it, though.

   “Yeah, sure,” He brought her pillow with him from the bedroom and handed it to her. “Why do you need that, anyway, there's lots of pillows back home.”

   “This is my favourite,” Nathalie squeezed it tight. “And I don't like the ones you get on the plane!” Nicky rolled his eyes and laughed.

   “All right...” He said. “I still can't believe Jake managed to convince Autumn to come with us!”

   “I know!” Nathalie exclaimed. “She was so hesitant, you know?”

   “Oh yeah?” Nicky raised his eyebrows.

   “Yeah, she wasn't sure she was ready. Guess she changed her mind.”

   “I'd say...” Nicky felt his phone buzz in his pocket and took it up only to see a text from Jacob. “Well look at that, he must know we were talking about them.” He grinned.

   “What does it say?”

   “You coming? We should get going.” Nicky read, and right after, they heard a car horn honk outside. Nathalie laughed.

   “We'd better hurry.” She picked up her bags from the floor and followed Nicky out through the door.

It took them twenty minutes to get to the airport, and the guys were chatting along loudly in the front of the car while Jacob drove. Nathalie had given up trying to follow their conversation a while ago, and was now looking over at Autumn, who had her gaze resting on the road passing by. Nathalie stroke her hand lightly.

   “You ok?” She said with a weak smile, Autumn looking at her.

   “Yeah, it's just weird,” She sighed. “I've never been outside of north America before, and I'm worried about some things.”

   “Like what?” Nathalie frowned.

   “You know, having to go to the bathroom a hundred times and all of that. And I'm probably going to be whiny and annoying and just-”

   “Heey, don't worry, you'll be fine!” Nathalie grinned. “You can sit by the aisle, the chair are enormous and you'll have lots of entertainment.” Autumn shrugged.

   “If you say so...”

   “Are you looking forward to it, at all?” Nathalie tried keeping a good tone, despite Autumn's obvious bad mood. “I mean, you'll get to meet all of our families!”

   “Yeeah, not so sure how that'll go...” Autumn sighed. “How will they react to me being pregnant, and what if they hate me?”

   “No one could possibly hate you!” Nathalie's eyes widened. “How can you say that?”

   “Why would anyone hate you?” Jacob said from the driver's seat.

   “Swedes...” Autumn muttered and crossed her arms over her chest. Nathalie pushed her lightly.

   “They'll love you, I swear. At least my parents will!”

   “You guys are sweet.” Autumn said with a week smile.

   “We're here, guys.” Jacob said as he parked the car. “Let's go check in.”

   “Yeah,” Nathalie got out of the car and grabbed her bags, following the guys into the airport. “Do you need help?” She asked Autumn when she struggled with her luggage.

   “No, I'll be fine...”

   “Seriously, let me help you.” Nathalie took one of Autumn's bags and Autumn smiled, miming a thank you.

They walked over to the guys, who had grabbed a luggage cart, and put their bags on top of it.

   “When do we leave?” Autumn asked and leaned against the cart.

   “An hour and a half,” Nicky said, looking at his boarding pass. “We should check in our bags and go through security now.”

After checking in and making sure they had everything they would need on the plane, the four lined up to go through security.

   “They're staring at me...” Autumn muttered as she nudged Nathalie.

   “What are you talking about?” Nathalie stopped digging around her handbag and looked up.

   “The security people...” Autumn said and crossed her arms over her chest. “They're looking at me. It's because I'm so young and pregnant, isn't it?” Nathalie blinked.

   “Autumn, they're not staring at you... And they don't care about your pregnancy. All they care about is airport security.”

   “I swear to god that guy was judging me. I could tell.” Autumn said after getting all her things on the belt, so they could be x-rayed.

   “You're being paranoid, he was not.” Nathalie walked ahead of the rest of them and waited with all her things for them to get through.

   “Maybe they thought I look fat and gross.” Autumn continued when they were all sitting down to eat something before the flight.

   “What are you on about?” Jacob asked, eyebrows raised.

   “She thinks that the airport staff are either judging her for being pregnant or think she's fat...” Nathalie rolled her eyes and Jacob stared at Autumn.

   “Are you serious?” He exclaimed. “Autumn, you are beautiful, why won't you get that?”

   “I'm bloated, I have stretch marks and I'm a walking house.” Autumn said in a low voice. Nicky shook his head.

   “Autumn, listen to him, seriously,” He caught Nathalie's eye. “You have to see what we see-”

   “And what is that, Nick?” Autumn cut him off. “What could that possibly be?”

   “A beautiful woman who has been blessed with the wonder of a baby. Do you know how lucky you are?” Autumn opened her mouth to speak but couldn't think of anything to say. “Exactly,” Nicky said. “So embrace it, love yourself and that little person in there. You will be happier than you have ever been before once he or she comes out. Trust me.”

While Nicky had been talking, Nathalie had pushed her plate away and looked at her hands. Autumn finally saw that she looked unhappy.

   “Hey, Nat, what's wrong?” She asked, reaching out for one of Nathalie's hands. Nathalie looked up immediately.

   “Oh, nothing. I'm not that hungry, that's all. Wow, is that the time? We should get going, our gate closes in fifteen minutes.” She collected all of her things, put them in her bag and hurried off toward the gate. The guys shrugged and they all followed her, Autumn with a concerned look on her face.

   “Hey, you've got our tickets!” Nicky laughed and walked up to her when they had reached their gate. He pulled her close and kissed her, whispering “Why'd you run away?” Nathalie swallowed and took out their tickets.

   “Here,” She handed him his and walked over to Autumn and Jacob. “Here are yours, we're sitting together, Autumn.” She smiled a weak smile and looked over at the desk. “Let's go, the line is getting shorter.” She kept quiet as they waited for their turn, but all she could think of was how excited Nicky had looked and sounded when he talked to Autumn about her being pregnant. The truth of the matter was; she was terrified that he might push her into the baby world way too soon. She wasn't ready yet.

   “Where do we go first?” She heard Jacob say. “Gävle or Skellefteå?”

   “Gävle is closer to Stockholm,” Nicky replied. “What do you say, Nat, Gävle first?”

   “Hmm...?” Nathalie looked at them both and nodded, confirming Nicky's question. “Yeah, we'll go to my place later.”

Once on the plane, Nathalie sunk into the chair and leaned back, exhaling loudly. “Brace yourself...” She said and turned to Autumn. “It's gonna be a long flight.”

   “There's a stop somewhere, right?” Autumn asked, already playing with the TV-monitor in front of her. “Greenland, or something?” Nathalie laughed.

   “Iceland, actually, and yes, we stay there for an hour and then it's straight to Stockholm.”

   “Cool,” Autumn yawned. “I hope I can get some sleep, my baby keeps me up for too long.”

   “You're sure about not wanting to know the sex?” Nathalie started checking which movies would be available.

   “Yeah...” Autumn said. “At least for now. Jacob's dying to know, though. He's hoping for a boy, of course.”

   “Do you have any possible names, yet?”

   “Jacob suggested Jesper, if it's a boy, and I really like the name Emma for a girl.”

   “Are you kidding?” Nathalie gasped. “That's my middle name!”

   “Oh my god, that's amazing!” Autumn exclaimed.

   “What's amazing?” Jacob leaned over from their seats.

   “Nat's middle name is Emma, the name I want if it's a girl!”

   “Wow, that is kind of amazing. I mean, what are the odds?”

   “I know, right!” Autumn turned back to Nathalie and they chatted on about everything and nothing. Nicky rolled his eyes.

   “Let them go on,” Jacob laughed. “They'll be dead tired anytime soon, and we'll be able to sleep, too.”

   “God, I hope so,” Nicky said with a smile as he leaned back. “I'm so tired.”

Even with the girls chatting, he managed to fall asleep in the big, soft first class chair, and he was out all the way to Iceland. Jacob, on the other hand, was watching Autumn until she fell asleep, which was somewhere over the Atlantic. Nathalie fell asleep an hour before they landed in Reykjavik and Jacob stayed awake. He simply couldn't fall asleep on airplanes when they were over water. He didn't know why. 

Twenty-One

   “Do you still need a ride to practice?” Nicky said when Jacob picked up his phone the next day.

   “I don't know if I'm going, to be honest...” Jacob scratched the back of his head.

   “What? Are you kidding?”

   “I don't know if you noticed, but I was kind of threatened last night, Nick...” Jacob said, sarcastically.

   “I'm picking you up in five, Jake.” Nicky said and hung up the phone. Jacob sighed and leaned back in the sofa.

   “What did he want?” Autumn asked from the kitchen.

   “Looks like I'm going to practice after all.” Jacob shrugged and walked into the bedroom to get what he needed.

   “I'm glad,” Autumn said, sitting down in the sofa. “You can't let Matt scare you like that, okay?”

   “Fine...” Jacob came back into the living room, kissed her forehead and headed for the door. “See you later.”

   “Bye!”

Jacob got into Nicky's car with the look of a little kid who had just been rejected candy.

   “Cheer up!” Nicky said as they drove off. “He won't do anything...”

   “Mhm...” Jacob sighed and put his elbow on the windowsill. “I just have a feeling he might...”

   “Just try not to think about it, okay?”

   “Sure... I'll try.” Jacob sighed again and kept his eyes on the road.

   “How come you needed a ride, though?”

   “Autumn wanted to use the car for something, I don't know what.”

   “Oh, okay...” Nicky turned up the volume on the radio and the two kept quiet until they drove up by Kettler.

   “Let's go, then!” Nicky locked the car and they went to change into their gear.

Half an hour into the practice, Nicky skated by Jacob, pretending to take some of the pucks out of the net.

   “How's it going?” He asked when he dragged them out and passed them up to the blue line.

   “Good...” Jacob replied. “So far.” He added under his breath when Nicky went back to the other forwards.

Jacob had a few more shots on him before he skated off to switch with Semyon. Just as he reached the bench, he heard the sound of a puck being shot and felt a sharp pain in his leg. He grabbed the edge of the boards and tried to remain standing.

   “What are you doing!?” He heard Nicky shout as he made his way to the bench.

   “Sorry, wrong aim...” Mathieu shrugged and shot a puck at Semyon instead.

   “Yeah, right...” Jacob cursed quietly and grabbed his leg.

   “Did he hurt you?” Nicky said and Jacob nodded.

   “He's after me, Nick. I know he is...”

   “Maybe...” Nicky swallowed and looked at Jacob. “You should probably go get that checked out.”

   “Yeah, I will...” Jacob left his helmet and stick by the bench and staggered down the runway to the locker rooms. Once he reached their locker room, he sat down and winced. Perfect.

Mathieu glanced over at Jacob as he made his way off the ice, and when they started playing four on four, he collapsed onto the ice, grabbing his hand.

   “Ouch...” He winced and shook it lightly.

   “What's wrong?” Boudreau asked when he skated over.

   “Hurt my hand... I think I need to check it out...”

   “Okay, we'll get someone else on, don't worry.”

   “Great.” Mathieu smirked slightly and hurried down to the locker room.

Jacob had just leaned his head back when he heard someone open the door. He looked up quickly and when he saw Mathieu standing there, he stood up immediately.

   “Matt,” He said and raised his hands. Mathieu walked over slowly, his eyes almost black. Jacob swallowed. “Hey, listen...” But Mathieu wouldn't listen. He pushed Jacob against the wall.

   “Swear to god, Markstrom, hurt her and you're dead!” He said through gritted teeth. Jacob didn't answer, he just swallowed and looked into Mathieu's dark eyes.

Just as Mathieu let go of Jacob and returned to his stall, the door opened and the rest of the team were starting to get in.

Nicky walked over to his stall, right next to Jacob, and sat down.

   “You okay?” He whispered as their team mates started taking off their gear, chatting loudly as usual.

   “Yeah... It's cool.” Jacob stood up and turned his back to the room, taking off his gear as he did so.

The two remained silent as they did this, and when they were in the car half an hour later, Nicky broke the silence.

   “Are you sure you're okay?”

   “Yes!” Jacob exclaimed. “I'm perfectly fine. Can we leave?”

   “Sure...” Nicky put the shift in reverse and backed out of his parking spot.

Nathalie had a smile on her face when she called Autumn that morning. She had planned a whole day in town for herself and Autumn, and she was very excited about it.

   “Hey!” She said, the smile reaching her voice when Autumn picked up.

   “Morning,” Autumn said, sipping on her tea. “What's up?”

   “Well, Nicky and Jacob have our car, so I was thinking you and I could go into town today. You up for it?”

   “Doing what, exactly?”

   “Oh, you know, the usual! Shop and just hang out. Come on, it'll be fun! And you haven't explored D.C yet, have you?”

   “Can't say that I have, no...”

   “Then come on! I'll come over and we'll take your car. Say, ten minutes?”

   “Fine,” Autumn sighed. “I'll be waiting.”

   “Great!” Nathalie hung up the phone and Autumn sighed again. She didn't feel like doing anything, but Nathalie had, once again, convinced her.

   “This one is so cute!” Nathalie picked up a dress from a hanger and held it against herself. “Don't you think?” Autumn sighed and nodded slightly at the dress. “Hey, what's wrong?”

   “Just thinking of the clothes I'm going to have to buy when I get bigger...”

   “Oh...” Nathalie put the dress back on the hanger.

   “I feel so fat and bloated and I just want to be able to buy clothes like this right now.”

   “Well...” Nathalie swallowed. She didn't know if Autumn could take a joke at this point. “You brought this on yourself.”

   “Hey!” Autumn exclaimed and finally smiled. “I was drunk and he was gorgeous!”

   “Was?” Nathalie cocked an eyebrow.

   “No, he IS gorgeous, obviously...”

   “I was hoping you'd say that!” Nathalie picked up a t-shirt from a nearby table and held it up for Autumn. “This would look good on you.”

   “No,” Autumn groaned. “It would make me look even fatter than I feel. Can we please go do something else?”

   “Sure, what do you want to do?” Autumn shrugged.

   “Anything.”

   “Ice cream?”

   “YES!” Autumn's eyes widened. “Please, I'd love some.” Nathalie laughed.

   “Let's go.” She smiled and hooked arms with Autumn as they walked out of the store.

Nathalie decided to only buy one scoop of ice cream while Autumn wanted three, and they were now sitting on a bench outside the mall, enjoying the sun.

   “Thanks for this.” Autumn said and sucked on her spoon.

   “Thanks for what?”

   “Getting me outside,” Autumn said, taking another spoonful of ice cream. “I was dying inside that apartment.” Nathalie looked at Autumn, concerned.

   “Is something wrong?”

   “No, I've just been worried... You don't know how Mathieu reacts when it's about me and guys...”

   “I'm sure nothing happened... He wouldn't be able to do anything with about twenty five other guys there, would he?”

   “I guess you're right.” Autumn smiled and turned her face towards the sun. “I wish the summer could just hurry up and get here...”

   “It'll be here soon,” Nathalie said. “It's April, so it's just around the corner. That sun, right there, is promising us that.”

   “That sounded so deep.” Autumn looked at Nathalie, who shrugged.

   “I've been here for a few years, it's always the same...” She said, finishing her ice cream and throwing the empty container in the thrash can next to the bench.

   “I guess I'll have to trust you on that one, then.”

   “Yep!” They both laughed and when Autumn stood up to throw away her container, she saw someone coming out of the mall. Her heart skipped a beat and she turned around.

   “It's Mathieu,” She whispered loud enough for Nathalie to hear. “Can we leave, please.” She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, tears starting to form behind her eyes.

   “Hi there, Autumn...” Nathalie looked up. Autumn didn't move. “Nathalie.” Nathalie swallowed, but nodded at Mathieu and bit her lip.

   “What do you want?” Autumn said and turned around, locking eyes with her brother.

   “Nathalie, do you mind if I speak to my sister alone for a moment?” Nathalie looked up at Autumn, but she had her back against her.

   “Uhh, sure...” Nathalie said, not sure whether she could trust him alone with her or not. Mathieu took Autumn by the arm and they walked away from Nathalie's earshot.

   “Aren't you supposed to be at practice?” Autumn said quickly, making Mathieu give her an odd look.

   “Practice ended an hour ago,” He let go of her arm. “Now, that Markstrom guy-”

   “You didn't do anything to him, did you?!” Autumn's eyes sprung open as Mathieu cleared his throat. “I swear, I'll kill you-”

   “I just told him what I would do if he ever hurt you.”

   “He's not like that, Matt, ok?” Autumn snapped. “He's been nothing but sweet about all of this. He's an amazing guy, so bury the hatchet, because whether you like it or not, he's going to be your team mate.” Autumn started to turn around but Mathieu held her back.

   “Have you told mom and dad?” Autumn closed her eyes and bit her lip before turning back.

   “No... And I'd appreciate it if you didn't either. I want to tell them when I'm ready.”

   “You know I don't like lying-”

   “Just don't mention it... Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my friend. She's probably worried about you killing me.” Mathieu laughed, but Autumn gave him a serious look.

   “You're serious?” Mathieu stared at her. “But it's Nat, she knows I would never-”

   “Not so sure about that...” Autumn looked over at Nathalie. “She's looking pretty pale, don't you think?”

   “Tell her I wouldn't hurt you or any other girl, ever, please. I don't want her to be afraid of me.”

   “Whatever.” Autumn rolled her eyes and walked back to Nathalie. “Let's go back home.”

   “What was that about?” Nathalie asked as they were walking towards the car. “What did he say?”

   “Nothing, it was about our parents. And he wanted me to tell you that he'd never hurt me, or any girl.”

   “Why would he say that?”

   “Because you were looking pale when we looked over at you.”

   “Oh... Well, then... good.”

They drove in silence, and after dropping off Autumn and leaving her car, Nathalie hurried home to a waiting Nicky.

   “Hey, where have you been?” He said, emerging from the kitchen.

   “Went to the mall with Autumn, tried making her think of something else than being pregnant.”

   “All right...”

   “Something wrong?”

   “No,” Nicky smiled. “Did you girls have fun?”

   “Yeah,” Nathalie sat down and reached for the remote. “We ran into Matt though...”

   “Oh?”

   “Yeah, he went to talk to Autumn, not sure about what... She only told me that it was something about their parents.”

   “Alright... Did she seem okay after?”

   “Yeah, why?” Nathalie frowned.

   “Well...” Nicky scratched the back of his head. “Matt kind of, uh, threatened Jake at practice today.”

   “He did what?!”

   “Yeah...” Nicky shrugged. “I didn't see much, because they were in the locker room, but Jacob swore that he did. He didn't tell me at practice, of course, but I got it out of him in the car on the way home.”

   "Wow...” Nathalie leaned back. “I never knew he'd be like this, he seems so sweet.”

   “Yeah...” Nicky frowned slightly. “But I think Autumn's used to it, don't you?”

   “I guess you're right,” Nathalie smiled. “You hungry?”

   “Starving,” Nicky stood up and pulled Nathalie up with him. “Let's go cook something together.” Nathalie held on to his hand when they walked slowly into the kitchen.